BY ALAN THATCHER
Rye Lawn Tennis Club has recently opened a second padel court – 24 years after building the very first padel court in the UK.
The original court has a block wall instead of glass, but still plays beautifully. The idea and enthusiasm for the court was created by club members who had fallen in love with the game while on holiday in Spain in 1997.
Now, Rye is reaping the benefits of that foresight and the second court is sited back to back with the original.
Ewan Hopins, who runs the padel operation at the club, explained: “We have to thank club members John Farmer and Freddie Menzies. I believe they had seen the game in Spain around 1997.
“The space it was built in used to be occupied by the old pavilion but in the 1990s it was used as a car park during the tennis tournament weekend at the end of July.
“The old pavilion has long gone. The thinking was that the padel court could also be used for junior tennis practise and the end of the court, where the new one has been built, was used as a practise wall.”
Rye Lawn Tennis Club has a fascinating history. It was founded in 1922 and is celebrating its centenary year. An open day is being planned for September when Tim Henman will be among the guests.
The club has some of the finest grass tennis courts in the land and right now some senior professionals from overseas are practising on them ahead of Wimbledon.
Hopkins added: “I took over the reins with padel in 2018 and we introduced a proper membership structure for the Rye Padel Club. A year later we had around 70 members, made up of 60% RLTC members and 40% padel.
“At this point we decided to look at building the second court. Demand for the court was high. We went to Maldon to play in a torneo and their membership was around 230 over three courts.
“We put planning in for a second block wall court in August 2020. We encountered barriers because padel was not recognised in the UK and so the club reverted its status to be part of RLTC again in April 2021.
“This made financial sense as the club has CASC status, by which time padel was recognised and part of the LTA.
“When we applied for planning we were led to believe that not only would it be cheaper to build block wall but also if we chose glass then change of material wouldn’t be too difficult. This wasn’t the case on both counts!
“We finally settled on a top-quality court from Portico in Spain. Planning permission was granted last October, we broke ground in March this year and our beautiful new court was completed on the 21st of April!”
I enjoyed a hit with Ewan and some very friendly and welcoming Rye members. And Ewan was quick to point out all the technical switches needed to make the adjustment from squash to padel.
You definitely do NOT need the big backswing favoured by most squash players! I was pleased to win a few points, but also manned up and swallowed the derision that accompanied serving a couple of double faults.
The whole experience (my third venture on to a padel court after a lifetime of squash) has made me hungry for more.
Jonathan Jempson, the chairman of RLTC, is proud of the club’s long history and is confident that the next century will see continued enhancements providing lots of enjoyment for members and guests.
Outline planning permission has been approved for the addition of three indoor tennis courts on a plot of adjacent land purchased by the club.
Jonathan passed on some historical highlights, writing: “The Rother Meads Tennis and Games Club Ltd was formed in 1922 when it bought the land on what was the Old East Guldeford Brewery for £900 and set up a tennis club.
“Since 1922 other than during the Second World War and Covid the club has run an annual invitation tennis tournament which is still going strong today, attracting more than 200 players entering the 11 different competitions with A & B sections and some handicap events so it can be enjoyed by players of varying standards.
“In 1974 we built two squash courts which sadly are not used as much nowadays as they were then. Some 25 years ago we erected a padel court and we have now just built another one to cope with the increasing demand for this fast-growing sport.
“All these sports are important to me and have given me much pleasure and brought me many friends over the past 50 or more years.”
Asked about his involvement in the club, he added: “I think I’m most proud of having played my part in ensuring that the grass courts have not been replaced with hard courts and that the facilities at the club are continually being improved until we now have without doubt one of the finest sports clubs of its kind in the country. Also it is important to note that we have CASC status and therefore the club is open to all.
“As for long-term goals, I’d like to see three indoor tennis courts which we have outline planning permission for in the extra eight-acre field we purchased about five years ago up and running (although this won’t be easy to finance) and to have a younger team running the affairs of the club so it is all set to so continue healthily for the next 100 years.”
Congratulations to all at the club. Rye is one of the most beautiful towns in the country with cobbled lanes and half-timbered buildings full of quintessentially English charm.
Rye Lawn Tennis Club is a superb racket-sports club that sits next to the River Rother as it winds its way inland from Camber Sands, past Rye and across to Appledore, and then ventures into Kent, heading towards Hythe. I will be popping back for another game sometime soon.
